Mike Hughes doesn't pull rabbits from hats. He doesn't
perform card tricks. And you won't see him saw a woman in
half. He's a mentalist, not a magician.

"I'm not a big fan of party magicians," says Hughes, a Web
specialist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to
Animal Testing who has been studying mentalism since he
was a kid. "People see a guy coming up with a deck of
cards and they just want to hide."

Hughes — whose act includes moving silverware with
his mind, bending spoons without touching them, and
reading people's thoughts — says that mentalism
transcends the boundaries of traditional magic and is
better appreciated by adults than by children. "Mentalism
is a branch of magical arts that uses psychology,
perceptual manipulation, persuasion, hypnosis, and
elements of traditional magic to produce what appear to be
psychic phenomena," he says.

At home parties, stage shows, and trade shows, Hughes
prefers to let audiences decide if he has psychic
abilities. When he does tarot readings, for instance, he
emphasizes that he's reading symbols, not predicting the
future. "I'm just there to entertain people and give them
a sense of mystery," he says. "I always tell people I do
things anyone can do with enough time and study."

Hughes is also a writer. His novel, Cabal, is a
supernatural thriller that's currently with an agent. He
loves writing but doesn't ever see leaving the study or
practice of mentalism. "The world is kind of a mysterious
place," Hughes says. "We don't understand half of how our
minds work and how reality works. Being able to perform
and evoke a sense of mystery in people, that makes me
happy."— Maria Blackburn